Mark the rhino in a tight spot

A Zimbabwean white rhino found himself stuck between a tyre and a very hard place after getting his mouth and snout stuck in a car tyre at the Lake Chivero Recreational Park on Saturday.

The poor rhino, known as Mark, couldn't free himself from the tyre.

The park rangers spotted Mark at the water’s edge, shaking his head around in a poor attempt to shake off the tyre. They called in vets at AWARE Trust Zimbabwe to help the bull.

AWARE Trust Zimbabwe shared the story on their Facebook page, noting that they received a call reporting the incident involving Mark and the tyre.

“Mark’s mouth was bound firmly shut and he couldn’t eat or drink,” the organisation captioned photos on Facebook of the rhino's plight.

After an hour-and-half drive, the two AWARE Trust vets, Keith Dutlow and Lisa Marabini, “found Mark lying close to his girlfriends, looking decidedly dejected and exhausted from his ordeal on this scorching hot day”.

"A dart was quickly placed, and a few minutes later he was down. Fortunately the tyre came off in a few minutes with manpower, and we didn't have to resort to cutting through it."

In times of drought, the lake level is at its lowest and “pollutants such as nets and tyres are washing up all the time”.

“Mark obviously fancied some vegetation that was growing right in the centre of the tyre, and once he stuck his nose to the ground to grasp it, the tyre came up over his horn stub.”

While Mark was successfully rescued, it’s reported that Lake Chivero, where many rhinos live, remains extremely polluted and rangers fear of incidents like these may occur more often.

The rangers added that the white bull rhino has made a speedy recovery.

“Eleven minutes later he was antidoted and grazing again as if nothing had happened.”